1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fish hatchery assembly adapted to divide a fish tank into an upper tank compartment and a lower tank compartment wherein baby fish alone will pass into the upper compartment, thereby providing an effective means of segregating baby fish from adult fish without the need to segregate the mother fish and constantly monitor the mother fish until birth.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fish breeding is a popular and profitable activity among fish owners. Unfortunately, due to cannibalistic nature of many fish, great care must be taken to ensure the safety of newborn fish. For these reasons, it would be beneficial to provide an assembly which will effectively segregate adult fish from newborns without constant monitoring or complicated arrangements.
In the art, there have been various inventions designed to segregate a fish tank into separate compartments. Such inventions can be seen in the patents to Goldman, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,288,110, Halpert, U.S. Pat. No. 3,291,098, Hackman, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,912, and Davis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,120,265. Unfortunately, partitions such as those disclosed in the referenced patents, merely divide a fish tank into two halves such that a pregnant mother fish must be placed into the separate compartment and watched until she gives birth. The constant attention is necessary because a mother fish will also eat baby fish if left in the same environment, therefore she must be quickly removed from the proximity of the baby fish and placed with the adult fish. Other breeder designs, such as referenced in Martinez, U.S. Pat. No. 3,464,387, and Stasio, U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,591 have been devised to attempt to facilitate immediate segregation. Unfortunately, these designs completely segregate the top and bottom of the fish tank such that either the baby fish or the adult fish cannot reach the top surface of the water for feeding and other necessary functions. Further, the baby fish are only provided with a small environment from which they must be transferred for growth. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,584,602 to Stasio discloses a complex and separate compartment for a mother fish having a grading at a lower surface thereof such that baby fish may pass therethrough and remain in a separate lower compartment. Such a design, is complex and confines the mother fish and the baby fish to a small area until transferred.
As a result, it is still necessary to provide a fish hatching assembly which is easily installed and removed from an ordinary fish tank, provides a safe and comfortable environment for baby fish as well as adult fish, does not require constant monitoring and provides an environment wherein baby fish may grow in the same tank until the assembly is removed, at which time the adult fish and grown young fish may swim together. Applicant's invention is designed precisely to meet these needs, and is structured such that baby fish, who after dropped from the mother naturally tend to swim toward the surface, will easily and effectively be guided into an upper compartment in the fish tank because of the angled surfaces and elongate slots provided in a horizontal filtering panel of the assembly.